Cashing Out: The Ex-Boyfriend Trap

I suspected my boyfriend had a sugar mommy. He was gorgeous enough for it. And broke enough, too.

Lately, hed been treating me like I didn't exist. But the real kicker was what I saw on his phone the other night.

A contact saved as Sugar Mommy sent him a picture of a no-limit black card and the keys to a luxury downtown penthouse.

I slid his photo across the desk to a private investigator. I wanted solid proof. I wanted every single dime Id scraped together to support him over the last three years back in my bank account.

Instead, the PI pushed the photo back like it burned him. He practically dropped to his knees, his hands shaking. "Please, spare me," he choked out. "Cole? Who the hell has a death wish to investigate him?"

Chapter 1

Day ten of suspecting my boyfriend was cheating on me. I walked into the private investigator's office. I slid my phone across the desk toward the PI. Slamming my coffee cup down onto the hardwood surface, I took a deep, steadying breath.

"That is all I have of their chat history," I said. "He must be deleting the rest of it regularly."

The investigator picked up the phone, his eyes scanning the photos I had secretly snapped of the messages last night. It was not much. Just one page. And it was completely one-sided, all from the contact named Sugar Mommy:

[Are you done throwing your little tantrum?]

[I sent over the billing statement for the no-limit black card and the picture of the penthouse key. That should soothe your fragile ego, right?]

[You are coming to see me tomorrow. No excuses.]

[You heartless little brat. Do you not miss me even a little bit?]

[I must have owed you in a past life to be stuck with a headache like you.]

The PI raised an eyebrow, clearly unfazed by the mundane drama of infidelity. He did not pry. "So, Sloane, how exactly do you need me to help you?"

I let out a dry laugh. My fingers dug into the fabric of my skirt, twisting the material until my knuckles turned white. "I need ironclad proof of their little rendezvous," I said.

"The kind of evidence that ruins reputations when it hits the internet. He is broke, so he might not care about his pride, but I bet she cares about hers. If he wants to climb the social ladder, fine. I respect the hustle."

I leaned forward. "But I have scraped together every penny to support him for three long years. I am getting my money back."

At least with a full bank account, I could afford to have a breakdown in peace. "Swipe to the next picture," I added. "That is his photo."

The PI shot me a surprised look, a flicker of professional respect in his eyes. His thumb swiped across the screen. "Let us see just how handsome this guy is to hook a Fuck!"

The phone slammed onto the desk with a sharp clatter. All the color drained from the PI's face. He physically recoiled, pressing himself hard against the back of his leather chair like the device was a ticking bomb.

He stared at me like I had just dragged a corpse into his office. "Are you out of your mind, lady?" he choked out. "Why the hell are you showing me a picture of Cole?"

I froze, instinctively thinking I had swiped to the wrong photo. I leaned over the desk to look at the screen. It was definitely him.

"What is wrong with the photo?" I asked, my brow furrowing. "That is my boyfriend."

The guy who got into a wreck with my moped three years ago and broke his leg. The broke kid who was left with absolutely nothing but his stupidly handsome face after paying off his hospital bills and the settlement. The crash brought us together. We fell in love.

He was the boyfriend who shared my cramped, crappy studio apartment, riding the subway with me, and living off discount groceries and instant ramen for three solid years. The same boyfriend who had been icing me out lately, leaving early and coming home late with excuses about being slammed at work. The guy who was constantly hiding his screen, texting behind my back, and clearly cheating on me with a sugar mommy.

Cole.

"What?!" The PI's jaw practically hit the floor. The look he gave me shifted from shock to something entirely different. Pity mixed with suspicion.

"Look, lady, are you messing with me? Are you just another crazy gold digger obsessed with marrying into money? That is Cole!" he snapped, jabbing a trembling finger at the screen. "The billionaire heir who controls an entire corporate empire and you expect me to believe he is your boyfriend?"

Chapter 2

"The man is worth billions. Women throw themselves at him faster than you can count! Climbing the social ladder?"

"A sugar mommy? What is going through your head?"

The PI slid the unlocked phone back across the desk. His eyes skimmed over Cole's photo on the screen, his expression souring. "Have a good day."

He leaned back in his leather chair. "There is no way we are looking into him. I suggest you go get your head checked first."

Before walking into that office, I had run through every possible scenario. Was he tired of me and looking for a way out? Did he fall for someone else? Was he sick of living paycheck to paycheck and trying to find a wealthy backer?

I had braced myself for all of it. I was ready for a clean, dignified breakup.

But I never saw this coming. The past three years of scraping by together had felt so grounded, so undeniably real. How could I have possibly guessed that the man splitting instant noodles with me was actually a billionaire heir, the most notorious playboy in the city?

So, after leaving the agency, I splurged on a cab. I headed straight for the most exclusive private club in town. It was the exact location the Sugar Mommy had ordered Cole to be at tonight. I did not want to make a scene.

I just wanted an explanation. A clean cut.

"Come on, Cole. Let us formally apologize before your mother gets here."

"It is not that we did not want to help you back then. Your old man issued a strict gag order to teach you a lesson. Our hands were tied!"

"But I have to hand it to you, you played it brilliantly. He cut off all your trust funds and credit cards, but he completely forgot about that face of yours. He never expected you to use your looks to hook a hardworking Cinderella. You did not experience an ounce of poverty.

You have been living the high life on her dime for three years!"

My hand froze on the heavy brass door handle. I stood rooted to the carpet in the hallway. A bone-deep chill crawled up my ankles, freezing the blood in my veins.

"But seriously, the three-year exile your dad put you under ended a month ago. Why are you throwing a tantrum and refusing to move back into the estate?"

"Exactly! Your mother specifically called us all here today to convince you. You are not seriously going to pass up the family penthouse just to stay crammed in that crappy studio apartment, are you?

What is the deal? Did you actually fall for the Cinderella? Are you settling down? Looks like your dad's punishment actually worked, you are completely"

"Bullshit." Cole ground his back teeth together. His Adam's apple bobbed sharply, his voice dropping into a low, heavy register. "Sloane is the walking reminder of my lowest, most humiliating point in the last three years.

I cannot wait to shake her off and get my life back."

"But a broke girl like her if she finds out who I really am, she will become a leech.

She will cling to me and never let go. It is better to just fade out slowly, like I am doing now. I will cut her a massive check when we officially break up. Consider it back pay for her taking care of me."

Every ounce of warmth drained from my body in a matter of seconds. The hallway heating vents were blasting hot air, enough to make me sweat under my heavy winter coat. But my teeth started to chatter.

But an uncontrollable shiver wracked my spine.

Every single thing that did not make sense before snapped into crystal-clear focus. The desperate need for an explanation evaporated. I had my answer.

My numb fingers brushed against my cheek, coming away soaked with cold tears.

Chapter 3

I did not even realize the tears were falling until the cold air hit my wet cheeks.

"Miss, are you looking for someone? Why are you crying?" A soft voice pulled me out of my trance. An elegantly dressed woman stood next to me, her eyes full of concern.

But the second our eyes met, she gasped. "Are you Sloane?"

Inside the private room, the laughter cut off instantly. Less than a minute later, the heavy door swung open.

Cole stood in the frame. His pupils dilated. "Sloane? What are you"

His gaze shifted to the woman standing behind me. Cole's jaw locked tight. His Adam's apple bobbed sharply.

He lunged half a step forward, his hand shooting out to grab my wrist, but he froze the second he saw her. He curled his hands into fists, the veins popping against the back of his skin. The words ground out through his teeth. "Did you bring her here?"

"No, purely a coincidence," his mother said. She shook her head with a gentle smile. "I have known about Sloane for a while, of course. My son was out experiencing the real world.

Did you really think I would not check up on you? Honestly, seeing you in a serious relationship for three years was a relief. When you kept dragging your feet about coming home, I thought you were just waiting for your father and me to hand you an excuse."

She paused. "Turns out, you just did not know how to extract yourself."

I gripped the edge of my coat, my nails digging so hard into my palms it stung. I lifted my chin and looked at the complete strangerthe billionairestanding in front of me.

I forced the corners of my mouth up. "You did not have to freeze me out to force a breakup, Cole." I kept my tone deadpan.

"I might be a broke, greedy leech, but I know my place. As long as the price is right, I guarantee I will disappear. No clinging. No drama."

I took a sharp breath and wiped the wetness from my face with the back of my hand. "Rent and living expenses for a year, let us charge the billionaire heir fifty grand. Fair?"

I shot him a bright, artificial smile. "Five times five is twenty-five, so two years is two hundred and fifty grand. Twenty-five times twenty-five three years makes it six point two five million."

I paused. A memory flashedCole's dead-end real estate job, taking home a measly base salary of three grand a month without a single commission.

No wonder he was at the bottom of the leaderboard every year, took six months off for a broken leg, and still never got fired. The undercover billionaire heir was just slumming it in his own family's company.

"Your salary was pathetic, but you did technically bring in some cash the last two years," I said. "So I will round it down. Six million flat. Deal?"

Honestly, I wanted to quote him sixty million. But Cole was a liar, not an idiot. Extortion was not practical.

Then again, slapping a price tag on three years of my life was pure bullshit anyway.

So I leaned into it. "Will that be cash, check, or wire transfer? Are we settling this right now? Because I do not really do installment plans."

The hallway, and the room behind him, dropped into dead silence. Everyone stared at Cole. Cole just stared right back at me.

His eyes were dark, unreadable, locking onto mine.

After a long beat, his eyelashes lowered. He let out a dry, emotionless laugh. It was a laugh dripping with arrogance.

The effortless, careless smirk of a man who owned the world. A man I did not know at all. "Nice math," he said. "Did your teacher give you lessons in armed robbery?"

My stomach plummeted, hitting the floor so hard it ached. But underneath the phantom pain, a twisted sense of relief washed over me. The freefall was finally over. I gave a half-shrug.

"No armed robbery lessons. But my teacher did drill one golden rule into my head." I looked him dead in the eye. "It is better to guess and get it wrong than to leave the answer sheet completely blank."

Chapter 4

"Is that not exactly what you did for the last three years, Cole?"

He despised me. He never planned a future for us. But he dragged me into his mess anyway, just to make his little poverty simulation a bit more comfortable.

"It is going to be a brutal winter." I tilted my head. "Getting dumped leaves a girl freezing. I need to find some new heat to fill the massive void you left behind.

And buying a good time costs serious cash. Would you not agree?"

I lifted my gaze. I forced the rising nausea down my throat. Digging my nails into my palms until the skin nearly broke, I locked eyes with Cole.

The color drained from his face. A muscle ticked in his jaw. His eyes darkened into black pits. He looked pissed?

"Oh, right." I blinked, feigning realization. "Your accounts are probably still frozen." I shifted my gaze.

"So Ma'am?"

His mother arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow. She dragged her gaze over Cole's rigid posture. "Are you absolutely sure you want to cut ties with such a bright girl?" she asked, a polite smile playing on her lips.

Cole pressed his lips into a thin, bloodless line. His Adam's apple bobbed. A dark storm rolled behind his eyes, but a second later, he completely wiped it clean. The arrogant, untouchable billionaire returned.

His voice dropped like ice. "I already told you. Taking over the empire is my absolute limit. Throwing me out on the street for another decade will not change a thing.

I am never going to live that monotonous life tied down to just one person. It is entirely too boring."

A sharp spike drove straight through my ribs. I squeezed my fists so tight my knuckles cracked.

His mother kept smiling. But the smile did not reach her sharp eyes. "Is that so? What a profound pity."

She unclasped her designer bag and pulled out a leather-bound checkbook. She uncapped a gold fountain pen. "Character and capability can always be forged through discipline. But your love life is your own bankruptcy to declare.

Sabotage it however you please. As your parent, the only thing I can do"

She paused. The gold nib stopped moving. She curved her eyes, handing me the crisp paper with a gentle, terrifying grace.

"Is to write you a blank check with absolutely no limit. Fill in whatever number you desire, as long as you stay far away from him for the rest of your life."

I held the blank check. Right in front of them, I calmly folded it and shoved it into my bag. I turned and pushed the heavy door open.

The freezing winter wind slapped my face, but I only felt the blood boiling through my veins.

I did not know what normal broke people did the second they hit the jackpot. I just quietly walked into the nearest private bank branch, filled out a terrifying number, and deposited the funds.

Then I went straight back to our cramped apartment. In total silence, I frantically smashed every single thing that had ever belonged to Cole.

Finally, I stood in the dead center of the ruined room. I stared at the morning sun rising through the dirty window, and then down at the impossible balance on my banking app.

I walked out and locked the door. I headed straight back to that elite private club.

"I want your strongest liquor, your biggest VIP suite, and your softest bed." I slapped my new platinum card on the front desk. "And bring me your best-looking guys."

I swirled a heavy crystal glass of whiskey in my hand. I was back in the exact same club. But this time, I was the one buying.

I dragged my gaze over the lineup of gorgeous VIP hosts standing in front of me. I let out a long breath and pointed at the two most striking ones.

"I will take you two for today." I took a sip of the burning liquor. "Take your clothes off and go take a shower."

The two guys froze. Awkward tension rippled across their sculpted faces. The taller one hesitated for a few seconds before offering a polite, uncomfortable apology.

"I am so sorry, Sloane." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We we are not that kind of service."

Out of nowhere, that completely unrelated sentence drove a brutal, twisting spike straight through my chest.

Chapter 5

I tipped the heavy crystal glass back and swallowed another mouthful of the burning liquor. A blurry, intoxicated laugh tumbled out of my mouth. I stumbled forward and jabbed my index finger hard against his solid chest, right through the thin fabric of his shirt.

"What is with the attitude? You sell your looks, and I pay the tab. Are you seriously judging me right now?

If you did not want this, you should not have messed with me in the first place"

The host froze. But it was not because of my slurred, unhinged rambling.

My vision warped. The hot wetness spilled over my lashes. The tears fell out of my control, dripping from my chin with every broken syllable I pushed out. They hit the thick carpet in dead silence.

That single, silent drop shattered the dam holding my lungs together. I dropped to the floor. My chest heaved, dragging in sharp, jagged breaths that scraped my throat like glass.

I pressed both hands hard over my face, my shoulders shaking uncontrollably as a raw, ugly wail ripped out of me.

"Cole. You son of a bitch!"

The next day at noon, the violent buzzing of a phone shocked me awake. A dull, heavy ache throbbed at the base of my skull from the hangover. I grumbled, rolling over and blindly swatting the shoulder of the person next to me.

"Cole, grab the phone"

The words died in my throat. I blinked, staring blankly at the incredibly handsome, utterly foreign face inches from mine. My nerve endings slowly booted up. I realized I was wedged directly between two massive, warm bodies.

The blackout lifted in pieces. Flashes of last night hit me, the alcohol taking over, me sobbing my lungs out while completely buried in the arms of two VIP hosts. An entire night of nothing but cheap liquor and ugly tears.

I had not planned anything scandalous. I just wanted the softest mattress in the city and a pair of warm, solid arms to hide in. I needed to physically bury the withdrawal of getting dumped. That was it.

The phone kept vibrating against the mattress. The guy next to me furrowed his brow, letting out a groggy, deep hum. I snapped out of it and grabbed the phone, swiping the screen to answer.

When I opened my mouth, my vocal cords felt like sandpaper. "Who is this?"

Dead silence on the other end. Then, Cole's voice filtered through the speaker, cold and sharp. "You are not at the apartment. Where are you?"

My brow knitted together. The last traces of sleep vanished from my brain. Right.

I deleted his social media but forgot to block his number. "Do you need something, Cole?"

A beat of silence. His breathing sounded heavy through the receiver.

When he spoke again, his tone was jagged and hard. "I came to get my things. Come back right now. Immediately."

I stared at the wall for a second. What garbage did he possibly need to come back for?

"I smashed it all. It is gone. Go buy new ones with your billions. If there is nothing else, I am blocking your number now."

I cashed a massive check yesterday and promised zero clinging. Leaving his contact in my phone was sloppy. I needed to correct that immediately.

The line went dead quiet again. Only the faint hum of static came through. Seconds later, his voice returned, rigid and obsessive. "Where the hell are"

The last word cut off. The screen went completely black. My dead battery finally gave out.

I clicked my tongue and blindly reached over the edge of the bed for a charging cable. I completely forgot I was not in my own apartment.

My hand did not find a nightstand or a plug. It slid right across a hot, solid row of abs.

A large hand wrapped around my wrist. A heavy arm pulled my waist, dragging me flush against a firm chest.

The host was fully awake now. He hooked his chin over my shoulder, pulling me tightly against him.

His voice was raspy with sleep. "If you like touching, keep going. Do not swap us out tonight, okay? I want to keep you company a little longer."

I shifted against his arm, finding a more comfortable angle, and let out a light laugh. "Do not get greedy. I need to give the other gorgeous guys in this club a fair shot to impress me."

Suddenly, I understood Cole.

Chapter 6

Turns out, when two people are just using each other and there is no future in sight, sticking to just one guy really is too boring.

But I really did not expect this. A massive, elite club like this, and they only had seven top-tier hosts! At my pace of rotating two fresh faces every day, I ended up reuniting with the most gorgeous one on day four.

Our eyes met. My toes curled into the carpet from the sheer awkwardness. But his eyes crinkled. He tilted his head, flashing a soft, perfect smile.

"My name is Kieran. It is a pleasure to serve you again."

"Ah. Well, can you help me" I rubbed my nose, breaking eye contact. "Go downstairs and rent a portable charger. I did not bring a cable."

Kieran froze for a second. Then his chest shook. He dropped his chin and let out a low laugh. "Sure."

The heavy door clicked shut. I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the crawling traffic and flashing city lights below. I tipped my glass back and swallowed the rest of the burning liquor. I got the payout.

It was time to turn the page.

Two sharp knocks hit the door.

I paused. Thinking Kieran had forgotten his room key, I reached back and yanked the handle down. Instead, I met Cole's brutally dark, thunderous face.

Kieran stood slightly behind him. The host's face was completely drained of color as he frantically shook his head at me.

Alarm bells screamed in my head. I slammed my weight against the wood, trying to shove the door shut. But Cole's long leg shot out.

His heavy leather boot wedged into the gap, completely blocking it.

His massive frame blocked the doorway, casting a heavy shadow that swallowed me. His hands clamped onto the wooden doorframe in a death grip, his knuckles turning stark white. His chest heaved. He practically growled through his gritted teeth.

"Are the hosts keeping you warm?"

"Warm enough for you to sleep with eight of them in four days? Sloane, do you have a fucking death wish